The 2012 Volkswagon Beetle Review

Owned by VW

This past weekend I took the opportunity to visit my local Volkswagon dealership to take a look at the new Passat (which I will review soon) and the new Beetle. The model I tested was a new 200HP 2.0L turbo engine sporting the six speed DSG transmission found in many other VW and Audi automobiles. The car had an as-tested price of over $30,000 dollars ringing it at $30,300 or in other words a Beetle that is more expensive than a decently loaded V6 Mustang or most Toyota models. However, because its German they feel they can charge an obscene amount of money for this car.


The Styling:

This is a much improved section of the car from the last generation. While the "New Beetle" catered mostly to females 40+, this new beetle combines some of the best styling features of the New Beetle with the design of the original Beetle and even some styling cues from elsewhere in the VW AG family (Porsche 911 like roofline anyone?) I must admit that I could not be happier that the flower vase was dumped for the new model. Any chance of targeting the male population in that car was automatically killed off by the flower.

Owned by VW. Shows manual transmission and other features.

On the inside, my tester was well equipped with satellite navigation and sunroof in addition to the DSG gear box. My personal favorite was the lap timer on the dashboard that has no reason for being in his car. It was also disappointing that my VW rep was not even sure what the timer was. This showed great knowledge of the car for someone who has been with VW for many years (and was of German heritage).

There are some negatives with this car. For being a $30,000+ car, it lacked some features such as steering wheel controls and automated climate controls. Also the cheap plastic trim that is designed to match the exterior color looks like it does not fit with the dashboard. The use of cheap hard plastics is heavy on this particular car and make me continue to question the price tag of this car. The Beetle also uses a lot of bin parts from other VW's and older Beetles including a glovebox that looks like its straight out of the 60's Beetle.

The trunk also leaves much to be desired. I figured that the "lets try to copy the 911" roofline might result in increased trunk space. I was dead wrong. Even putting the rear seats down, fitting golf clubs or suitcases will be difficult. I also dislike the trunk latch where you life the VW logo on the back. My main reason for this is because the you can hear it de-latch multiple times before you can open the tailgate enough to let go of the handle. I feel this may be an issue down the line from added wear and tear.

The Drive:

Many may confuse this for a puffy version of the GTI, however, the car has replaced the rear torsion beam for a multilink setup. This new rear end has not improved driving style what-so-ever. The car feels very uncoordinated when driven hard. There is a lot of understeer entering a corner and unsmooth surfaces provide the feeling that the tail will come around on you. Otherwise the ride is smooth and comfortable in a straight line but does not feel as planted as a GTI.

The DSG gearbox, which is fantastic in other cars, is hurt here by a wider spread between the gear ratios. The box constantly searched for higher gears even in the manual shifting mode. Unfortunately there were no manual models available for test but supposedly the row-it-yourself box is a lot smoother. To get from 0-60 the best way is to just mash the gas. this leads to a time of 6.3 seconds which slots in between the GTI and a Jetta GLI (as it should given the weight changes between the three cars).

Conclusion:

While this is an interesting car and has some nice features, you would be better off buying a GTI which would come in a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the Beetle. If you choose to go outside of VW, you could find a well equipped Mustang for about $1500 cheaper. The options elsewhere place this car low in the consideration column even within the VW family.